I was wondering if anyone here knows of a forum on the subject of castles (10th -15th century), with a crowd that equals the myArmoury.com visitors in level of knowledge, if such a place exists.

I've been interested in castles for quite a long time, I have read books on castles and have visited many (I live in Europe, which makes visiting medieval buildings and ruins very accessible). I consider myself very much an amateur with my level of knowledge. Yet, some 30+ years of pursuing the subject and my love for details, have brought me well beyond the casually interested crowd.

As such, I'm looking for a place to discuss subjects related to castles (both the architectural design compromises as well as the political and social position of castles in medieval society), with people who have a (semi) professional level of knowledge on the subject.

Does anyone happen to know such a place?

I realize this question is more or less off topic. I hope it is still Ok.

In all my years of studying all things dark ages through renaissance, I've never come across an actual 'forum' devoted wholly to medieval castles or architecture. I've read a lot of interesting threads concerning such on this and other forums, but not a whole forum. Maybe some European source? Your best bet may be to continue your reading. You can always read when the power goes out. ....Maybe someone else can direct you. ......McM''Life is like a box of chocolates...'' --- F. Gump

The Netherlands is just such a small country that there is hardly a group of people large enough to build a community on such a niche topic. As such, my question was directed at finding an English language/international site mostly (I'm not comfortable enough in French to participate in any meaningful discussion).

Well I'm afraid I don't know of a specific forum, but I think you could always start some threads here and see what happens. Here are two websites I've found useful. One is on Japanese castles, but the site runner and many of his visitors seem very well informed. You might be able to have a good discussion with them through email or maybe you'll end up creating your own international castle forum. I hear they make tons and tons of money....

Here's another site which is fairly commercial, a real estate type of thing, but there are some interesting tidbits as well and it covers many different castle forms across the world. You might find something useful. Perhaps you'd like to buy your own?
http://www.castlesandmanorhouses.com/castles.htm

Personally I'd be pretty interested to read about particular castles across Europe, so feel free to update this thread if you do get some better leads.

I was wondering if anyone here knows of a forum on the subject of castles (10th -15th century), with a crowd that equals the myArmoury.com visitors in level of knowledge, if such a place exists.

I've been interested in castles for quite a long time, I have read books on castles and have visited many (I live in Europe, which makes visiting medieval buildings and ruins very accessible). I consider myself very much an amateur with my level of knowledge. Yet, some 30+ years of pursuing the subject and my love for details, have brought me well beyond the casually interested crowd.

As such, I'm looking for a place to discuss subjects related to castles (both the architectural design compromises as well as the political and social position of castles in medieval society), with people who have a (semi) professional level of knowledge on the subject.

Does anyone happen to know such a place?

I realize this question is more or less off topic. I hope it is still Ok.

Hi Jasper B - I'm not an expert, but one with an beginning interest in Castles.
So while I can't help you out with any expert forums, I would just point to a thread I made here on myArmoury on some recent danish books on castles (both in english), that you might have missed?
See thread: http://myArmoury.com/talk/viewtopic.php?t=34319&highlight=

I've seen the castles subredit. Unfortunately it is mostly about pretty pictures of buildings that more or less look like either castles or fortifications; it lacks details or meaningful discussion.

J. Nicolaysen wrote:

Hey,

Well I'm afraid I don't know of a specific forum, but I think you could always start some threads here and see what happens. Here are two websites I've found useful. One is on Japanese castles, but the site runner and many of his visitors seem very well informed. You might be able to have a good discussion with them through email or maybe you'll end up creating your own international castle forum. I hear they make tons and tons of money....

Here's another site which is fairly commercial, a real estate type of thing, but there are some interesting tidbits as well and it covers many different castle forms across the world. You might find something useful. Perhaps you'd like to buy your own?
http://www.castlesandmanorhouses.com/castles.htm

Personally I'd be pretty interested to read about particular castles across Europe, so feel free to update this thread if you do get some better leads.

Good luck!

Thanks for the links. jcastle.info looks like a decent website, but I'm interested in European castles. I'm sure Japanese castles would be very interesting, but they just don't appeal to me.

The castlesandmanorhouses.com website has some nice pictures, but the written information is what you read in any basic 'castles!' book. The main aim of the website indeed seems to be about renting/selling/touring castle-ish locations.

Niels Just Rasmussen wrote:

Hi Jasper B - I'm not an expert, but one with an beginning interest in Castles.
So while I can't help you out with any expert forums, I would just point to a thread I made here on myArmoury on some recent danish books on castles (both in english), that you might have missed?
See thread: http://myArmoury.com/talk/viewtopic.php?t=34319&highlight=

I missed that topic. I'll take a look at it.

Reading my own reply, I think I sound rather dismissive or negative; that's not my intention.

It's just that I'm looking for more in-depth information, placed in a historical context. I love photographs of architectural details. Detailed photos of, for example, a door can be most interesting. Yet, they are meaningless without context such as: at what approximate years was this section of the castle build? Who was the owner of the building at the time? What was his (political) status? In which country is this castle located? Is this an inside or an outside door? Have there been any major restorations to this section of the building, in what years (Victorian 'restoration' did more harm than good)?

http://www.castlesandmanorhouses.com/architec....htm#roofs shows a nice examples of photos without this context. It shows, among others, pictures of Carcassonne. While the restoration of Carcassonne started out as an attempt at faithfully reconstructing things as they had been, it quickly became a project where historic plausibility was of less and less importance. As a result, the photograph of a nicely tiled roof in Carcassonne tells us nothing about how a tiled roof was constructed in the 13th or 14th century, because it only shows a 19th/20th century interpretation or edition of a tiled tower roof.

An example of the questions I would be interested in discussing is: almost all great hall-buildings have their interior space divided into a chamber and a hall. The proportions between chamber and hall are almost always 1/3rd - 2/3rd. Is there a known reason for this proportion? Has it to do with Christianity (dimensions of the cross)? Is it coincidence? Was it a result of the medieval methods of measurements and design (Arithmetic rope, etc)?

There is a facebook group Castles, Fortresses and Fortifications which deals mainly with posting pics, but the formula does allow for discussions and some participants seem well versed on the subject. There might be some there who could help with your quest.Bon coeur et bon bras

While looking through the fb site, I came across a reference to Castlesandmanorhouses.com which seems to cover not only architecture, but buying and selling, tourism, mapping....a bit of an all service center for castle enthusiasts.Bon coeur et bon bras

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